News Subscriptions · pricing · Updated September 2026
The Athletic pricing (2026)
The Athletic starts at $6/mo (Annual) as checked on 2026-09-03, read from apps.apple.com — the public source it was captured from, not a The Athletic page; 2 plans. Best for Hardcore sports fans who want beat-writer depth on specific teams, not just scores. Every figure below links to its source and the date we captured it.
At a glance
- Entry price: $6/mo (Annual)
- Free tier: No
- Compliance: HIPAA — · SOC 2 — · GDPR —
- Best for: Hardcore sports fans who want beat-writer depth on specific teams, not just scores; Podcast consumers wanting sports-specific audio beyond mainstream radio; Fantasy sports players who want expert analysis across all major leagues
As of · every figure below links to its source STALE · 2026-09-03
The Athletic plans & pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Billing | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly STALE · 2026-09-03 | $7.99 | — | Flat monthly | Full access to The Athletic's sports journalism, beat writers and podcasts, billed monthly. | apps.apple.com |
| Annual STALE · 2026-09-03 | $6 | — | Flat monthly | Same full access billed annually at $71.99/year (equiv. $6.00/month); ~25% cheaper than monthly. | apps.apple.com |
Last verified 2026-09-03. STALE marks a plan we have not re-checked at its source in over 30 days. Every plan above is marked — we flag rather than silently retain. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-athletic-all-sports-news/id1135216317 (official The Athletic US App Store listing, In-App Purchases, accessed 2026-06-13; standard annual $71.99 corroborated by trade press) Cross-checked against awfulannouncing.com. This note predates a correction to the plans above, from 2026-09-11; the table holds the corrected figures.See the corrections.
Price changes
Price on record
$6/moFirst on record 2026-06-27
A new dated entry is stamped here each time the price moves — the record builds itself.
Tracked since June 2026. No change record has cleared two sources yet, so nothing is published on the wire.
Corrections to this record
Changes we made to our own record of The Athletic, newest first: a figure read again on the vendor's page, a plan it no longer lists, a note. None of them is a price change by The Athletic. Every correction on the site is in the corrections log.
-
Annual. Correction 2026-09-11: The annual discount of 25% was removed from "Annual". The recorded $6/mo is this plan's own note's $71.99 yearly total over 12 months, so the saving is already inside the figure, while the page prints the percentage as a further discount off the same row — offering a reader $4.50/mo. Removed rather than moved: no rate above it is named anywhere in the note. The note still describes the term in full. No price changed.
Capabilities
Integrations: iOS 18+, iPadOS, macOS, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Android, web (nytimes.com/athletic).
Key features: 400+ dedicated sports journalists and beat writers; Coverage: NFL (32 teams), MLB (30 teams), NBA (30 teams), NHL (23 teams), MLS, PGA Tour, F1, NASCAR, college sports, Premier League; Live scores and real-time stats; Original podcasts: The Athletic Football Show, The Audible, No Dunks, and league-specific shows; Breaking news alerts with real-time notifications; Connections: Sports Edition (daily word-grouping game); In-depth long-form journalism and exclusive interviews; No advertising — subscription-only revenue model; Apple Editors' Choice award recipient.
Plan limits: No free tier — hard paywall, subscription required for all content; No free trial stated in App Store listing; English and French (Montreal only) language support.
Frequently asked questions
How much does The Athletic cost?
The Athletic starts at $6/mo (Annual); it has 2 published plans. Verified 2026-09-03.
What are cheaper alternatives to The Athletic?
Cheaper news subscriptions than The Athletic (entry $6/mo) include The New York Times at $4.99/mo, Financial Times at $4.99/mo. Verified 2026-09-03.
Does The Athletic support HIPAA?
The Athletic's public pages do not say whether it supports HIPAA.
Does The Athletic have a free plan?
No — The Athletic publishes no free tier.
The Athletic vs alternatives
Cheaper news subscriptions alternatives
- The New York Times from $4.99/mo
- Financial Times from $4.99/mo
More news subscriptions tools
Related categories
This standing as a plaque
The Athletic currently holds a silver deskmark here — Rank 3 of 8 · News Subscriptions. Anyone may show it. There is nothing to apply for, nothing to pay, and displaying it changes no score: the standing comes from the published algorithm, which never reads commission data. We never ask anyone to show it, and its link carries rel="nofollow".
The image is drawn from our live data, so it follows the standing rather than freezing it: if The Athletic moves up or down a tier, the plaque on your own site says so at our next publish. Nothing is tracked beyond the ordinary web-server log that records any image request.